I hate my kitchen but it cost a lot of £££

[RightMoveAlong]

Namechanged.

I had a new kitchen fitted around 18 years ago and it cost over £20K in total. New boiler at the same time (in kitchen), built in fridge, granite worktops, solid light-wood kitchen installed by an upmarket company.

I was never happy with the worktops (glittery black) but DP wanted them and I gave in.

It's so dark. The room faces north so I need the lights on all day as the window is small. The black worktops don't help.

It's very dated now because everyone is going for white or pastel painted units.

I don't know what to do , if anything.

We may move at some point and I guess buyers would know it was a quality kitchen even if not their taste and rip it out.

I can't bring myself to re-new it even though the money is there, as it seems such a waste. The property is worth around £650-£700K.

Would it be possible to sell it 2nd hand or get something for parts of it?

@EuroTrashed we pulled up what we could with chisel and hammer etc, then our joiner used some of his tools on the day to take up the rest.
We took the kick plates off the kitchen to get to the flooring underneath the units.

I hate waste. The problem is that fashions change. When we bought this it was top of the range and more sought after than painted units which were dated at the time! Wood was 'the thing' and the design is very simple
You've mentioned fashions and trends a few times.
The issue isn't what other people like. It's that you don't like it and it's an 18 year old kitchen.

It comes across like you don't like the kitchen but are hoping to justify the

Repost after knocking post whilst scrolling
I hate waste. The problem is that fashions change. When we bought this it was top of the range and more sought after than painted units which were dated at the time! Wood was 'the thing' and the design is very simple
You've mentioned fashions and trends a few times.
The issue isn't what other people like. It's that you don't like it and it's an 18 year old kitchen.

It comes across like you don't like the kitchen but are hoping to justify the change or upgrade by focusing on what other people might like, the fact that fashions change, the fact other people have gone for pastel etc.

If you don't like it then change it and own the fact that you've had 18 years out of a kitchen and want something new. Whatever you do though, don't repeat the same mistake by getting whatever is popular now.

OP, I get it. It does seem an enormous waste to rip out a perfectly good kitchen because you simply don’t like it. Sounds like it was built to last and discarding it due to fashions and trends is immensely wasteful. So either learn to like it or do something about it. PPs have given loads of ideas without a picture.
We’re looking at updating ours and the new kitchen market has positioned itself so that we see units, finishes, layouts and styles in terms of fashion - and by definition it will become outdated. Why not try some of the ideas on here? There is less to lose than the price of a new kitchen and you wouldn’t be being wasteful.

The problem is you put in a quality kitchen that would last ... and it's lasted!

I still think some painting and interior design/colour scheming will give the room a massive lift. Trends do come and go but Shaker kitchens have been around for a very long time as it's a classic style of furniture, and in showrooms for as long as we've been home owners.

The kitchen in our previous house was a shaker style one built by a joiner 22 years ago so not high end - initially it was painted Mediterranean Blue which was very in vogue at the time and we had a wooden worktop. About 10 years ago we updated it by painting it F&B Parma Grey and putting in a black granite worktop and grey porcelain floor tiles when we were extending the living/dining area.
I still really like the look. The range cooker and fridge were also 22 years old but we had to replace the dishwasher.

That’s a lovely kitchen @Qc16. See I reckon hand built by a good joiner is about as high end as it gets. It looks as if it could easily do another 22 years.

Can I ask you used to repaint your kitchen please?

Changing the worktops and painting the units would transform it.

It was a temporary measure, since the kitchen was eventually going to go anyway once they extended, but dd and SiL painted some really horrible old dark brown melamine kitchen cupboards, ditto some pine panelling, which didn’t ‘go’ anyway.

The transformation was amazing, all for a few ££ in paint.